As I noted in the geographical thread earlier I have an abundance of maple trees and I make my own maple syrup. The sap from a maple tree is primarily water. It takes approximately 40 gallons of maple sap to make 1 gallon of maple syrup. The idea is to boil off the excess water until you have syrup. I believe the sugar content of maple sap is approximately 3 to 4 %. Has anyone ever used maple sap before in a recipe? If so, how did it turn out and are there any conditions I should be careful of? Just curious.
Yooper

Cool! I am interested in knowing about the beer from sap. I have a recipe for wine, but this is the first year making it so I will get back to you in a year when it is ready. Recipe calls for both sap and syrup. (Lots of both, like 1 gallon of syrup and 4 gallons of sap for a 5 gallon batch) I imagine the sap would make a good substitute for water in many beer recipe's, maybe I will try that with next year's run.

I see you are from Southern Ontario. Probably the same type of landscape I'm from (more or less). We are in the middle of sap run right now. I don't think it will last much longer though. I'm planning on saving around 5 gallons of sap sometime next week and will give it a try. I'll let you know what happens. By the way, hows the sap run been in your area? It's been off and on here. Good quality sap this year but very intermittent. Expect a heavy run next week.
Yooper

I suggested trying to brew maple sap beer to some friends the other day and they thought I was nuts! I knew there were others out there who would give it a try. I was also thinking of birch sap, has anyone tried that before? I live near Vancouver BC so I don't have a good source of tree sap of any sort close by (unless you like hemlock

Birch sap was another option but around here most of the birch stands are dead or dying. Birch leaf minor. From what I understand birch sap/syrup has a more fruity flavor. As far as hemlock goes, I think that may be a bit bitter. Maybe that would fall under the category of spruce beer.
yooper

I dont know about making beer with it, but I made a batch of mead using half honey and half maple syrup. That was a year and a half ago, and it is still getting better.
You could probably use it to make a braggot, which is malt and I think 40-50% honey, but you could just as easily substitue syrup. I have had a braggot before and it is quite tasty and came in around the 12%ABV range. Give it a try!!!

To be honest, this was my first season collecting sap so I can't tell you if it is a good year or not The run was intermittent, two weeks ago being about the best for volume. I am hoping that by this time next year, I will have a little more experience and that this years batch of maple wine will turn out well enough to sustain my spirits throughout the next years whole sugaring process. Really looking forward to it!

After a pitful attempt of making a Honey Mead my only suggestion would be to use a strong yeast strain and possibly some Yeast Nutrient to get it started. Then again my Mead tasted like something you put in a gas tank even after a year. But it looked pretty.

How do I remove tree sap and other sticky tree stuff off my car? I've had to park under a tree the past year and there has been a build up of sap on my car. I have a new black car, and I'm afraid of damaging the paint. Any suggestions?
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